Sometimes A Car Is Not A Car

I know these pieces are going to be seen by a lot of people, specific people, or hanging somewhere prestigious and I freeze.

And then I put them off because starting is difficult and I second guess myself on everything. It’s like a vortex of doom inside of my head. Just a mad swirl of all the ways I could approach a piece.

I’m doing that right now.

The only thing that will save my bacon is the fact that I can paint really fucking fast and with both hands at the same time. I swear that skill came from the amount of procrastination I’ve done in the past.

I’m getting ready to paint the ’67 Chevy Impala from Supernatural right now. It’s part of the series of paintings I’m doing for the Jacksonville Supernatural Convention (#jaxcon #spnjax) and www.IMAlive.org.

I’ve never painted a car before. And this car matters.

Of course, I know who’s going to be seeing my art: the fans that come to the con and the stars from Supernatural.

You wonder why I have stage fright.

And this car matters. She matters so much. She’s the heart and soul of the show.

I told my eldest daughter how I was feeling and she blew me off. “Pfffffffft! Mom, don’t think about painting a car, just paint the colours and the car will appear.”

My spawn was right.

It’s how I paint my portraits, so how could I forget? Impressionism is a method of painting light. It’s the method I use to paint. That moment of BOOM! when a face appears is pure magic.

So I’m going to stop procrastinating, listen to the words of my kid, and just paint.

After all, I didn’t get to where I am today by letting fear make my choices for me.